Police searching for suspect in
murder$1,000 being offered for information on man found
slain in his home
By Donna Limberger
Monitor Staff Writer
MYRTLE SPRINGS–Crime Stoppers is offering $1,000 for information leading
to the capture of murder suspect Michael Maurice Dupree, a white male,
about 58 years old.
Dupree should be considered armed and dangerous, police said.
Investigators believe Dupree fled the scene of the crime in a maroon
2003 Dodge van with silver stripes and bearing the Texas license plate
X02-NVF.
The Van Zandt County Sheriff’s Office, along with the Texas Rangers, are
investigating the murder of a Wills Point man.
Paul Edward Marshall, 72, was found dead in his home on VZCR 2142 Sept.
10.
“We received a 9-1-1 call from Mr. Marshall’s preacher. He had gone over
to check on him, since no one had seen or heard from him since Tuesday
night,” Van Zandt County Investigator Patrick Reedy reported.
Reedy said Marshall was found lying face down in his living room floor.
“This is a murder and we are looking for a suspect. We are in the early
stages of the investigation and cannot release any more details at this
time,” Reedy said.
Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Dupree or the stolen
vehicle should contact the Van Zandt County Sheriff’s Office at (903)
567-4133 or Crime Stoppers at (903) 567-STOP.

Judge calls it quitsDavid Holstein will not seek re-election in 2010
By Michael Hannigan
Monitor Staff Writer
CEDAR CREEK LAKE–There aren’t just a whole lot of people who can get me
scrambling out of my Friday afternoon pre-football nap to scribble notes
on the back of a check stub.
The current county judge calling to tell me that he has decided he will
not run for re-election is certainly one of them, however.
That’s exactly what happened Friday when Henderson County Judge David
Holstein announced he will be stepping down at the end of his term.
His reason for moving on is simple – family.
Holstein has two sons who are quickly approaching high school
graduation, and the judge would like to spend that time with them.
In his official statement, also released Friday afternoon, Holstein
said: “After much thought and discussion with my family, my supporters
and my constituents, I have decided not to seek re-election for the
office of county judge in 2010. The time is right to take a sabbatical
from public life. It is time for me to step aside, spend more time with
my family, and begin another chapter in my life.”
Holstein also said he never intended on trying to make a career out of
being in office.
I was able to get all that posted on our website before I left for Tyler
and the Malakoff-Grace Community battle Friday. What I didn’t get posted
is that I knew Holstein before he became “Judge” and was still “David.”
As a pair of transplanted Yankees (he’s originally from the Chicago
area; I’m from Philly), we hit it off with a similar sense of humor.
When Holstein first ran for county judge about eight years ago, he was a
Gun Barrel City businessman, and I was the editor of the Cedar Creek
Pilot. His election was heralded – at least in the western part of the
county – as the lake area flexing its political muscle for the first
time.
But some forget how hard Holstein worked for that first election; how it
wasn’t just a lake thing. He had an RV that he drove all over the
county, campaigning from Seven Points to Chandler.
From the start, he campaigned on improving public safety.
As he said Friday, “Who cares about fixing potholes in the road if
you’re afraid to drive down the road?”
Looking back, Holstein said that is where he sees his biggest successes.
One of the first things that happened after he took office is the county
successfully petitioned the state for another County Court-at-Law. That
helped ease a staggering backlog of cases.
Then the county passed a bond to expand the jail. As Holstein often
said, if you are sentencing more criminals, you have to have someplace
to put them.
The plan also called for the jail to take in prisoners from other
counties, a practice that began this year, and that Holstein said should
generate a positive cash flow. That money can then be used to put more
law enforcement on the street.
He calls it the “crime-fighting master plan.”
Of course, it hasn’t all been smooth sailing. There have also been
lawsuits from former county employees, a faulty elevator, and the fight
against East Texas Medical Center that no one will ever forget.
I won’t go into who won or who lost that ETMC fight – the answer to that
depends on who’s doing the talking.
But now, Holstein’s ready to be done. This county judge thing was never
supposed to be permanent, anyway.
As he said in his official statement Friday: “When I first ran for
county judge in 2002, I felt, if I was fortunate enough to be elected,
it would be a two-term commitment. My goal then is the same as it is
now, to be a public servant, not a lifelong politician.
“I have been truly blessed to be able to serve the people of this
county, and want to thank you for every vote you cast for me throughout
the primaries and two general elections. Also, I especially want to
thank all those who worked so hard during my two election campaigns.
“While at this time, I am closing a chapter in my career as Henderson
County Judge, I will continue to be active in the life, growth and
development of the community that my family and I call home.”
With the announcement, it seems the 2010 election season has come, and
we now know for sure we will have a new county judge.
Let the campaigning begin.

Former COP arrested for having
child pornMonitor Staff Reports
DALLAS–Former Caney City police chief Michael Meissner has been arrested
in Arlington, according to published reports.
Meissner, 39, has been charged with seven felony counts, including
possession or promotion of child pornography, promotion of prostitution
and engaging in organized crime, according to the Dallas Morning News.
Officials said the current investigation started as a probe into misuse
of official information, but evidence of other crimes was found as a
result of search warrants.
The initiating investigator is detective John A. Hoskins of the Combine
Police Department (Combine straddles the Dallas-Kaufman county line).
Bond was set at $1.5 million, and officials said more charges could be
added.
Meissner fired Hoskins when he worked under him in Caney City, Meissner
told The Monitor in 2007.
Subsequently, a website, aiming to discredit Meissner, was reportedly
set up by Hoskins, who also contacted news reporters to look into
Meissner’s employment record and education.
Meissner resigned as Caney City police chief in January, 2007, following
televised reports saying he graduated from a police training program at
an institution which was later discredited. Those reports dubbed
Meissner a “gypsy cop.”
The televised reports said Meissner traveled from town to town taking
law enforcement jobs.
According to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards
and Education (TCLEOSE), Meissner has had 15 different postings in the
past 18 years.
Hoskins has served in law enforcement for less than five years and has
had at least 13 different postings, according to TCLEOSE records.
A recent news report from WFAA.com said investigators found evidence
that Meissner had e-mailed information about a person who had wronged
him to a blogger in New Hampshire, who then wrote inflammatory remarks
about that man (Hoskins).
In 2007, Meissner resigned from the Caney City Police Department after
TCLEOSE began investigating him.
At that time, TCLEOSE issued two reprimands for Meissner for not
reporting that he had been arrested in the past.
According to the TCLEOSE reprimand letters, Meissner was arrested on
“April 7, 2005, for the offense of tampering with a witness, a state
jail felony.” That case was dismissed.
TCLEOSE also reprimanded Meissner for not reporting an April 17, 2005,
arrest “for the offense of impersonating a peace officer, a felony, and
operation of security company without a license, a Class A misdemeanor.”
Both of those charges were no-billed by a grand jury and dismissed.